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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25877638">Abstract Art</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/aixmarie/pseuds/aixmarie'>aixmarie</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>SEVENTEEN (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Arranged Marriage, Childhood Memories, F/M, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 00:47:48</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,757</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25877638</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/aixmarie/pseuds/aixmarie</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>He knew the other could not lay his back on the hard concrete floor, so he spread the canvas and layered it a bit at an attempt to form a cushion. Jeonghan, who was still seated on the wooden stool with his legs crossed, raised his right eyebrow at him - not sure whether he liked the idea of having to sleep on the rough fabric or not. But that's the only solution he can think of.</p><p>The flame in the oil lamp created weird shadows as it danced with what little breeze they have. And with the studio painted in an orange hue, the night was humid. Seungcheol thinks he won't be able to finish his work with what little light they have anyway, so he starts gathering his supplies to set them aside. As he picks the rest of the brushes scattered near the easel, Jeonghan steals one from the tin can holding them. It was dipped in cerulean - one he used to paint the sea.</p><p>A smile of mischief forms on Jeonghan's lips. Seungcheol isn't sure if this smile is his favorite, or if it's the smile he's scared of the most. He knows what the guy is capable of. He squints at the other as a joke, challenging him as to what he plans to do with the brush.</p><p>"I have an idea." Jeonghan bites his bottom lip.</p><p>"Of course, you do."</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Choi Seungcheol | S.Coups/Yoon Jeonghan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>26</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Adieu</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was already three in the morning but loud music was still blasting from the speakers. Jeonghan downs another bottle of beer and slams his palm on the counter after emptying it. It was his sixth for the night, not counting the unrecorded number of shots he took with Vernon and Seungkwan earlier for the endless rounds of poker. Good thing his neighbors are used to the noise. Having lived in this apartment for almost seven years, the sound of parties coming from his unit was already a constant in their block. He sneers at the thought, because after tonight, none of this would happen anymore.</p><p>He plays with the bottle caps scattered on the bar counter. He realized every inch of the black marble was badly scratched, thanks to the hundreds of events he held since freshman year till now.</p><p>Joshua appears on his right out of nowhere, a glass of tequila sunrise in his hand. 'What an odd favorite', Jeonghan thinks to himself. He never got the chance to ask his best friend why it's his favorite cocktail.</p><p>“If I didn’t know you better, I would think this is actually your stag party.” Joshua grins at him, probably determined to piss him off tonight.</p><p>“Oh come on, Shua!” Jeonghan’s face morphed into a look of disgust. “I am already miserable! Why do you have to joke like that!”</p><p>His best friend even had the guts to laugh at him, eyes curving into lovely crescents. Jeonghan thought of how much he’d miss Joshua and it stings.</p><p>“Yoon Jeonghan,” Joshua rolls his eyes at him. “you haven’t even met the new her. What if you’d come to like her?”</p><p>He almost chokes on his beer. “You know my preference.”</p><p>Joshua was about to take a sip, but then his hand pauses midway and turns to look at Jeonghan with a bewildered look at his face. "Yes? I do know. And I also know that you've had a girlfriend for one whole year."</p><p>He was about to retaliate. Instead, he just sighs in defeat. Damn, he wanted to smack his best friend's smug face. But he glares at him instead. Joshua's right, though. The guy knows him through and through.</p><p>Seungkwan's voice comes blaring through the speakers. He's singing some song from 2ne1, even dancing with perfectly rehearsed choreography. Jeonghan thinks about how he's going to have to listen to Korean songs more often in two days. Actually, he's thinking about how he's going to have to deal with more Korean stuff in the next few… years.</p><p>"Promise me you'll visit me often." he says quietly. Not even sure if his best friend heard him since Seokmin joined Seungkwan on the mic. They were now belting to some song Jeonghan doesn't even recognize.</p><p>"You'll be fine, Han. You'll even fi…"</p><p>Jeonghan groans, interrupting an amused Joshua. "Don't give me that 'you'll find love' bullshit again."</p><p>"You know I'm usually right about these things too!" Joshua empties his glass and goes behind the bar, opting for the bottle of Grey Goose this time. He pours a sufficient amount and tips the glass in one go. Jeonghan watches him intently, refusing to argue about things like this. He'll just prove him wrong anyway.</p><p>He shifts his attention back on the bottle caps he was playing with earlier, distractedly hoping the realtor won’t be too critical about it. "Promise me you'll visit me often." he repeats his words... This time, in a more sombre tone.</p><p>"I promise." his best friend flashes him the most genuine and reassuring smile, and somehow Jeonghan's worries felt lighter.</p><p>----</p><p>The drive to the airport was uneventful, save for Seungkwan’s continuous attempt to lighten the mood by playfully nagging Vernon about his hair getting longer. “You think you’ll look even half as attractive as Jeonghan-hyung with long hair? No, you won’t!”</p><p>Vernon doesn’t comment at all. Instead, he just stupidly smiles, chuckling every now and then, which seems to make Seungkwan pout even more.</p><p>Jeonghan hears someone sniffling behind him. He looks at the rearview mirror and finds Seokmin hiding his face under his hoodie, sandwiched between Seungkwan and Vernon, who were now both silently judging him.</p><p>"Ah, Seokmin! Why are you crying? Jeonghan won't be able to leave if you're like that." Joshua comments, who was also now trying to take a peak of the three boys behind him.</p><p>"Ayyy, you focus on the road Shua-hyung." Seungkwan nags behind him.</p><p>Seokmin doesn't answer. He was still trying to hide his sniffles from everyone, but Jeonghan was now turning to look at him. "You'll have to visit me too, Seokkie." No response, just sniffles.</p><p>Joshua drives towards the parking lot. They decided to hang out a bit at the airport before Jeonghan’s flight with four hours to spare. Seungkwan complained about the crowded venue but still expertly navigated through the sea of people. Finding the Japanese restaurant they decided to dine at, Seokmin was now engrossed with the menu while Vernon and Seungkwan fought over sharing one meal or getting their own.</p><p>“Don’t be too hard on your mom.” Joshua whispers to Jeonghan as he takes the seat next to him. “She probably can’t do anything either.”</p><p>“She could tell him ‘No, he doesn’t want that.’” He sighs as he turns the pages of the menu mindlessly.</p><p>“Yeah, like he’ll listen.” Joshua rolls his eyes at him.</p><p>Even not having met his family in person, being his best friend for seven years, Joshua knows quite a lot. About how his mother is the second wife of a wealthy businessman. And that his step father practically banished him to the US. He can’t complain though. They provided him with everything he needs - even everything he wants. Damn, he spent so extravagantly he thinks it’s compensation for having to follow what his step father wants. But this is different. This is basically the rest of his life.</p><p>Joshua was also there with him a month ago when his mother called, voice laced with nervousness as if what she was going to say would be something Jeonghan would really really dislike. And he was right.</p><p>
  <em>“Jeonghan, son… how are you?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“I’m fine mom, as usual.” he replies lazily as he contemplates between two Versace leather jackets. “I’m out shopping. Will you please call me back later?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>His mother audibly sighs on the other line and becomes silent for a while. Jeonghan knew then that something was going on. “Mom, what’s wrong?” He signals the lady that he’ll take both jackets and Joshua just shakes his head at Jeonghan’s decision.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“I - It’s your father.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“What happened to Moonsik?” he hands the lady his credit card as Joshua also waits for his own purchase.                                                                                                     </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Oh will you stop calling him by his name.” his mom sounds irritated now, though Jeonghan knows it’s not because of him calling his step father by his name. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Mom, what happened?” he repeats once more, anticipating an answer. Though it makes him kind of fearful of what she’s about to say. His mom knows how to enjoy life and money, so she rarely gets upset about anything. Unless it’s about Jeonghan.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The lady was finally done wrapping their jackets and tucking them safely into boxes and paper bags. Jeonghan’s mom was sniffling on the phone by now, and Joshua cast a worried look.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“You have to come home.” she says after a while.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Okay…” he tosses his keys at Joshua, who catches it without a sweat. This is what he loves about their dynamics, they don’t even need to explain why. It’s like Joshua expected him to do that as he has a more pressing matter over the phone with his mom. “What is it this time?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The line goes silent again, as if his mom is conflicted on whether to tell him the truth as to why, or to tell him some dumb reason just to make him fly all the way to South Korea. Not like he really has a choice. It’s not the first time he’s asked Jeonghan to fly back for four-five days with various kinds of excuses: ranging from “I need to bring my son to this party Mrs Park is holding. They’re bringing all their sons to show off, Han! I can’t be the only one without a son there!” to “I feel so down and alone. Moonsik is out of the country for two weeks. I need my dear son to have breakfast with me.” So random. But with her close to just straight up crying right now, Jeonghan figures the reason isn’t as simple as wanting to have someone to have breakfast with.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>They spot the white Range Rover and Joshua unlocks Jeonghan’s ride before taking the driver’s seat. Usually they would drive in Joshua’s Porsche Macan as it’s smaller and easier to find a parking spot, but today Jeonghan drove by Joshua’s place for an unplanned shopping. So the latter just hopped in and went.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Mom, are you gonna tell me why or should I not fly back?” he throws the paper bags at the back seat before securing his seat belt.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“No no, you need to come home.” her voice is shaking by now. “He’s decided. And he wanted me to tell you.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Tell me what?!” Jeonghan was getting impatient now and Joshua looked at him with a raised eyebrow as he raised his voice a little. He shoots his friend an apologetic look.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“You remember that daughter of Mr &amp; Mrs Kim?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Jeonghan was now confused. “Uh, the one who became a supermodel? Sojung? Is that her name?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Yeah yeah, you remember?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Uh, yes. We used to play together when we were in primary school. Why?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>To be honest, if he was going to really rack his brains and figure out a reason on his own since his mother is hesitating, he would still not have found an answer. Why would she bring up a topic about a childhood friend at a time like this? It doesn’t make sense.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“She lives in Milan now. But… uhhh… she is coming home too.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Okay… if this is some kind of party Mrs Park is holding and you need me to go with you….”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“It’s not.. It’s not.” His mom interrupts him and Jeonghan was getting extra impatient right now. Joshua takes the freeway and Jeonghan realizes he’s driving them back to his apartment.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Mom, just tell me please. I don’t like the suspense.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Mr Kim and your father… they talked about merging and…”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Jeonghan’s vision blurred. He knows where this is heading and he kind of wants to  fade out into darkness right now. There was like a full eight seconds where he just spaced out and he thought to himself ‘This is not happening. This can’t be happening...’ But his mom’s muffled and panicked voice is starting to become clear again. “... she’s lovely and you’ll like her.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Did you tell Moonsik that I probably won’t like being set up like this?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“I told him and… well, you know how the business is these days…”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“No mom, I don’t know how his business is these days. But I think it’s fine since he allows me to splurge his money like water. I don’t think the business is doing bad at all.” he reasons and he knows he hit the nail on the head.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Mr Kim and him go a long way back…”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Then just sign some documents for the merger… Why do I have to be involved? I am not even his real son.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Don’t you say that!” his mom was now furious. She hates it when Jeonghan considers himself an outsider from the family. Though he knows Moonsik regarded him more than just a step son, the guy provides him everything. But he hasn’t exactly been the father figure aside from his unlimited supply of wealth Jeonghan’s been enjoying. “You’ll be flying to Korea and it has to be soon. Sojung will be home next month. I expect you to be here during that time. Don’t be an ingrate!”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>And with that, the line cuts.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Joshua was now parking the SUV in the basement of his apartment. None of that conversation with his mom has sunk in. Joshua looks at him with worry but based on what he heard, at least Jeonghan’s part in the conversation, he should probably have an idea now on what the conversation was all about.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“You wanna talk about it?” he says as he turns off the engine.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Jeonghan slumped against the passenger seat. He’s still trying to process the conversation. He feels Joshua’s gaze linger and he gives in to look his best friend in the eyes. “I guess I am getting married.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Woah.” Joshua’s voice was low - surprised - but more on calm disbelief than alarmed. “Are you sure that’s the reason why she asked you to fly home?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“I don’t know.” He looked at his phone in his palms and played with the strap holding the crystal casing. “She said something about a merger… and about me liking her…”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Her?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Jeonghan nods as a reply. “There’s this… childhood friend…”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Joshua relaxes himself in the driver’s seat, partially tilting his body to one side so he can see Jeonghan’s expression.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“She was just a friend… never more than that… at least to me.” he sighs as he reminisces to ten years ago when he was still in highschool. “She liked me… but I… you know my preference.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“May I remind you…”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Yeah, I know… But I was still discovering myself that time. And she was a good friend.” Jeonghan picks his bag up from the floor of his SUV. “Before she flew to Paris for her big modeling break, she told me how she felt about me - about us. And I rejected her.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Woah, you really did that?” Joshua was also grabbing his stuff and was getting ready to alight the vehicle. Jeonghan did the same with the rest of his stuff. As they got to the elevator, he never stopped sighing. He’s always known that at some point, there was a great possibility that his step father would use his authority to make him do something he wouldn’t want to do. But he never expected this.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“There’s nothing much to the story, actually. It’s not as serious as it sounds. She said goodbye and left. And I also left for LA after that and that was it.” They reach the seventeenth floor and Joshua inputs the code for Jeonghan’s apartment as both his hands were occupied with tons of shopping bags. He really outdid himself today.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“So you’re getting married to her?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Don’t make it sound like I said yes already.” He groans and flops himself on the plush sofa after dropping all his bags on the side.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Joshua goes straight to the kitchen after gently placing his share of their shopping spree on the counter. “You’re the one who said you’re getting married!”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He grabs two glasses from the drawer and pours both of them some sparkling water. Jeonghan was unmoving from where he was flopped and Joshua needed to give him a soft kick on the shin to make him get up and grab the glass he was holding.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“I’m fucked, right?” he says, looking at his best friend, teary-eyed. “I can’t even say no to him? How do I say no to him? It’s like he gave me everything so that when the time comes he needs to use me, I can’t say no. I brought this upon myself!”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The glass he was holding was shaking from his outrage. He didn’t even have a sip. His ever-so-calm friend takes it back from him and places it on the coffee table, away from an enraged Jeonghan.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“You didn’t even try talking to him yet. What if he’s okay with not having the ‘arrangement’ push through?” He says that word with emphasis, as if it matters whatever it’s called. He’s upset but he can’t even bring himself to get angry about it because he kind of saw it coming. Not an arranged marriage, but something just so inevitable for him. And he thinks this is it.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“He won’t agree. My mom will support his decision too, I know it.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“You’re probably right. He’s cold-hearted. All he knows is to let you splurge his money. Other than that? Nada!”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Jeonghan squints at his now upset best friend. He didn’t expect such a comment from Joshua. “That doesn’t help at all!”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“What?! I’m telling you… now that I think about it, he’s not going to agree.” he downs what’s left of his glass and looks out of the window. Jeonghan does the same.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The view from his apartment at this hour used to be gorgeous. With city lights sparkling like a thousand stars painting the unpolluted night sky. But now he looks at it, it’s just... bleak. Maybe it’s not the view… It’s just him and knowing how his extravagant way of life is going to be shattered soon.</em><br/>
<em>Joshua takes Jeonghan’s hand in his, the warmth making Jeonghan feel tons better. But it still doesn’t seem enough. “But if you think about it, Han… maybe it will be okay.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He’s not sure whether Joshua was waiting for a response, but when he looked at him, Joshua seemed to be focused on something at a far distance. Nothing in particular maybe, but his thoughts were probably running. “We’ve been like this for so long… We have enjoyed life to the fullest. Maybe it’s time to settle down?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The smile Joshua gives him was too sincere - too genuine - that he actually didn’t answer back. Their hands were still clasped together and he wouldn’t want to let go anytime soon.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Joshua’s been there for him since he left South Korea for his university in LA. They’re first encounter was with Jeonghan accidentally spilling his red wine on Joshua’s white Virgil Abloh Louis Vuitton Sac Plat tote at the first class lounge. He felt so sorry he immediately offered his Hermes Cityback as compensation, which he automatically regretted in a second. Thankfully, Joshua kindly rejected it and just told him it’s all good.That’s when they discovered they were flying to the same city, going to start college at the same university, even having the same major - School of Arts &amp; Architecture. Not the most common choice to be honest, so imagine their surprise when they found that out. Ever since then, they just clicked together and were inseparable.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“I’ll miss you though. We’ve been together like what, seven years? How can I fly to Korea and leave you here? What if you find a new best friend? I’ll feel betrayed, Shua. I am warning you.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>It made them laugh a bit. At least for a while they joked about it. At this point, Jeonghan’s legs were already resting on top of Joshua’s on the couch. They were exhausted - not with shopping, no - never with shopping. They were emotionally exhausted.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“I’ll miss you too.”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>“Hyung, what about you?” Seungkwan’s voice rings in his ears.</p><p>“I think... I’ll get the salmon bento.” he replies after a while.</p><p>“How about you, Shua-hyung?”</p><p>“Hmmm… I’ll get the ebi fry bento.”</p><p>They place their orders and immediately, Seokmin went back to sulking. He looked so adorable that Seungkwan and Vernon started making fun of him. Jeonghan joined them just to make himself feel better too.</p><p>“Aigooooo, I’ll miss my babo… Don’t sulk…” Seokmin was now glaring at all of them before grabbing the glass of orange juice and angrily sipping from his straw.</p><p>Jeonghan fakes a smile. He will miss all of them. And though they’d probably still be able to see each other once in a while, it will be different being totally away from them for so long. Damn, they won’t even last three days without seeing each other. He’s worried about being homesick… because home is with his friends here in LA… not with his ‘family’ in Korea. They’ve been through so much, even with Seokmin, Seungkwan and Vernon being known to him for only four years now, he’s felt more connected to them than with anyone he’s left and forgotten in Korea.</p><p>As the servers place their food on the table, Jeonghan brings himself back to the present. With Seungkwan now regretting his choice of pork tonkatsu, he fervently negotiates to exchange his meal with Vernon’s curry udon. He chuckles at this, which makes both Joshua and Seokmin turn their gazes at him.</p><p>“I’ll miss all of you, seriously.” He says, not daring to make eye contact while moving all the pickles to the side of his box.</p><p>“Hyung…” Seokmin starts getting teary-eyed again and Joshua scolds all of them. “Aiiissshhh can you all stop crying?!”</p><p>Everyone stopped whatever they were doing and were all now staring at Joshua who, at first, was pretending to busy himself with the mayo. But he eventually gets teary-eyed, and it was now Seokmin’s turn to tease Joshua. “Aigooooo… Shua-hyung... why are you crying?!”</p><p>For the whole three hours that he had left in LA, they just made fun of each other. And although it was a lot of fun, Jeonghan can’t deny the fact that everything felt heavy.</p><p>“I’ll send out invitations to my wedding and you have to fly to see me no matter what!” he says half-jokingly and half aware that it might really be what’s fated to happen. Seungkwan was in tears now and Seokmin was surprisingly not bawling his eyes out. He hugs each one of them tightly, but the hug just lingers a bit more with Joshua.</p><p>“Don’t kill anyone.” his best friend’s very helpful reminder to him - joking but in a very serious tone.</p><p>“I’ll try.” he replies in a more somber tone and Joshua slaps his arm so hard. “Ah! What?!”</p><p>They break the hug and the others watch in amusement as the two bicker a bit more. “I’ll fucking miss you, Yoon Jeonghan.”</p><p>“I’ll miss you too. All of you.” he turns to look at everyone before finally picking up his keepall and walking straight towards the turnstile for immigration. He turns to look at them one more time with a wave, and then he’s gone.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thank you for reading Chapter 1.</p><p>I honestly don't know why I started writing this when I clearly have lots of unfinished fics. But I promise I will finish this one. And I'll finish it soon because I kinda know where I want the story to go. But it's been a long time since I wrote so this is sort of my practice? I don't know. Please go easy on me. And I hope you'll follow the story with me.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Familiarity in Unfamiliar Places</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Twelve hours later, Jeonghan’s patience was totally exhausted that he was so close to jumping off the plane. By the time the Asiana Airlines A380 landed at Incheon International Airport, he demanded from the ladies tending at the first class area that he be let off the plane immediately as there was some emergency. Being an Elite member, they easily complied without question.</p><p>After being ushered towards the Elite members’ lounge, Jeonghan excused himself and quickly stepped out towards the private driveway of the airport. Expecting to see his mom clad in Chanel haute couture waiting for him by her favourite Rolls Royce Cullinan, it’s an understatement to say he was disappointed. He was looking forward to seeing his mom after a very long time, especially since he hadn’t spoken to her since that phone call when she dropped the news to him.</p><p>Instead, there was a Maserati Levante in the driveway. Leaning against the matte black hood of the car was a very very attractive young man. He was wrapped in a black turtleneck sweater, double-breasted jacket Jeonghan recognizes from the recent Louis Vuitton runway collection, dark skinny jeans, and a pair of black Guissepe Zanotti boots. He was engrossed with something on his phone and Jeonghan wasn’t really sure if the man was there to fetch him, though he did look familiar.</p><p>Jeonghan remained standing by the doorway for two more minutes, contemplating whether to ask if he was his ride, when the man finally looked up at him. For a second the man was stunned but then the look of confusion on his face quickly changed to an overly-friendly smile that Jeonghan looked behind him to see if the man was actually beaming at someone else. Apparently, the blinding smile was for him.</p><p>“Jeonghan-hyung!” The man called after him excitedly as he stood up from his leaning position, revealing a full 6 foot 1 man.</p><p>Stupidly pointing to himself, Jeonghan then finds himself being pulled into a hug by the stranger. “Oh my god hyung, it’s been so long!” The man whispers to him, still enveloped in the hug.</p><p>“Uhhh… sorry?..”</p><p>“Come on!” The man pulls his luggages towards the blacked out Maserati. “I figured you’d be hungry by now, so I made a reservation. And then we can catch up!”</p><p>Jeonghan follows him as he opens the back of his SUV to fit the luggages in. He was only bringing three huge baggages and two small ones. The rest - he asked Joshua to have them shipped all the way to Korea because he can’t carry all of his clothes and stuff.</p><p>The man was now hurrying to the driver’s seat but not missing to open the door first for Jeonghan to climb up. Jeonghan noted that he was a gentleman, just like Joshua, and he appreciates that a lot.</p><p>“I’m sorry, I was expecting my mom to fetch me.” He mutters, unsure if he should also start fastening his seatbelt like the other. “But, who are you?”</p><p>The man stopped what he was doing and slowly turned his head to look at Jeonghan. He was visibly hurt about not being recognized by his ‘Jeonghan-hyung’ but Jeonghan really had no idea who he was.</p><p>After what felt like forever of them just staring at each other midway to securing their seatbelts, the handsome man sighs exaggeratedly before clicking the lock on his left.</p><p>"I guess you don't recognize me anymore."</p><p>Jeonghan doesn't know how to react so he also just reaches for the seat belt lock. He's obviously hurting him, but Jeonghan really can't remember where he saw him before.</p><p>The man starts the engine and Jeonghan braces himself for speed. But no, the guy drives quite smoothly. He hears another exaggerated sigh as they exit the private driveway towards the main road.</p><p>“Will you tell me who you are now so I still have time to figure out whether you’re kidnapping me or not?” he mutters quickly.</p><p>The other turns his serious gaze on him. After a few seconds, the man laughs… loudly.</p><p>“Haaaiisshh hyung! You really thought I was kidnapping you?” Jeonghan looks at the guy warily, hoping he just fucking tells him a name. “It’s Mingyu! The one you used to play video games with when you were... twelve?”</p><p>His eyes widened in surprise. “Mingyu?! As in Sojung’s brother?!”</p><p>“Yes! I was just nine, I think?, the last time we met! You kept on cheating by disconnecting my console without me knowing!”</p><p>Looking at the man he now finally recognizes, Jeonghan’s eyes suddenly shine with mischief as he remembers how he used to play video games with his childhood friend’s brother. He holds his laughter as Mingyu recounts more of his tricks.</p><p>“Remember when you pretended you got something in your eye and when I got distracted, you knocked me out on Street Fighter?!”</p><p>Jeonghan couldn’t help but laugh out loud by this point. He’s blushed crimson as Mingyu pretends to be annoyed with the past events. But he has that familiar smirk, clearly enjoying the colour he painted on the older’s cheeks.</p><p>“Hey! To be fair, something really got in my eye that time!”</p><p>“Lies, hyung! Lies!”</p><p>“No, no, no…” he couldn’t stop laughing as Mingyu continued to accuse him of lying. “By the time you got to me, I already rubbed the thing off…”</p><p>“Lies!” Mingyu breathed while expertly navigating the roads from Incheon to Seoul. There was not much traffic, which Jeonghan was thankful for. And after a bit more reminiscing, Mingyu was already parking the car in a secluded street in Gangnam. He didn’t really notice where exactly they were as he was still recovering from a hilarious story of how Mingyu almost lost a tooth when Jeonghan challenged him to a game he could never win.</p><p>“I felt like I was bullied my whole childhood!” Mingyu dramatically exclaimed as he was undoing his seatbelt.</p><p>“Hey! I wasn’t that mean!” Jeonghan defended himself as he undoes his seatbelt, grabbing his Kelly Depeches with his necessities.</p><p>He doesn’t recognize the restaurant. Even though he occasionally visits Seoul in the past seven years, it seems like he’s never been to this place.</p><p>Despite being in the heart of a modernly designed area, the entrance to the restaurant was adorned with lots of plants and flowers. There were huge stone steps leading to the wooden main door surrounded by white and grey pebbles. As they get closer to the main door, Jeonghan notices the very narrow pond behind the cascading vines and it’s something he’s never seen before. Usually, ponds would be exposed in view but this one makes the tranquil atmosphere look more mystical. An interested Jeonghan crouches down to observe its details. It was surrounded by flattened, unevenly polished limestones and had water trickling from a camouflaged spout.</p><p>“Beautiful, right?” Mingyu whispers beside him and he nods in agreement, still in awe about the whole feel of the place. “My best friend is the genius who designed the whole place..”</p><p>Jeonghan’s eyes light up in even more interest. “Is he an architect or… ?”</p><p>“Yes, an architect, interior designer, furniture designer.. He is quite an artist.” Mingyu swings the main door and holds it open to let Jeonghan in first. The restaurant wasn’t full but there were a few patrons who were silently chattering, some discussing wine choices with the waiters. The ambience was quite serene and Jeonghan liked that. But what really caught Jeonghan’s attention was the interior of the restaurant. It was just as stunning as the landscape outside and Jeonghan was once again in awe.</p><p>“He’s from China… He studied there and then came to Korea with his boyfriend.”</p><p>Jeonghan nods to this, but he was still very much distracted. The different maple wooden seats with earthly pastel cushions were all mismatched in a perfect way. Window sills were also lined with crawling plants, obviously regularly maintained. There were also booths at the far end against the windows. The benches were held by thick braided nylon ropes hooked from the ceiling and they looked like huge cozy swings. And though Jeonghan can’t see it, he knows there should also be something holding the seemingly hanging seats from below. Which makes him a bit more excited about the whole lunch arrangement with Mingyu more than he expected.</p><p>A handsome guy approaches them and smiles at Mingyu first to which the other reciprocates with a big toothy grin. He then focuses his attention on Jeonghan and gives him the same beautiful smile to which he also returns.</p><p>“Mingyu, it’s been a while. We’ve missed you!” he says with so much fake enthusiasm Jeonghan wants to cower in embarrassment. “I think the last time I saw you was…” the guy pretends to reminisce “...less than eighteen hours ago, no?”</p><p>But Mingyu just giggles at the other’s remarks. He then wraps his arm around Jeonghan’s shoulder to introduce him. “Junnie, this is Jeonghan - my future brother-in-law!” He says even more enthusiastically, to which the other guy named “Junnie” nods and stretches his right hand for a handshake.</p><p>“So it’s you, the legendary Yoon Jeonghan.” The guy smirks and Jeonghan isn’t sure what he meant by “legendary” so he awkwardly smiles, nods, and lifts his hand to shake the other’s. “I am the one and only Moon Junhui… yes that’s right, you are shaking hands with THE Moon Junhui, but since you are Mingyu’s friend, you can call me Jun.” He finishes with a wink.</p><p>Jeonghan isn’t sure if he was supposed to recognize “THE Moon Junhui” but wow there’s so much going on in just a span of a few hours of him being back in Seoul that Jeonghan doesn’t know what to make out of any of these meetings.</p><p>They were eventually ushered to one of those booths with hanging benches and Jeonghan became excited again. Mingyu leads him to get seated on one of them while Mingyu takes the other. Jun stays standing and Jeonghan looks curiously until some tall and handsome guy (Jeonghan doesn’t remember Seoul having too many handsome guys) approaches their table and puts his arms around Jun’s waist. His smile was nice and it reached his eyes, and Jeonghan could see sincerity behind his round spectacles that was sitting atop his nose bridge as the guy welcomes him. “You must be Jeonghan.” he says as he reaches out his hand, “My name’s Minghao. I own this place with my boyfriend, Jun.” The guy named Minghao tightens his hold around his boyfriend’s waist as he says his name and it was kind of sweet. But Jeonghan was interested in something else.</p><p>“Hi, nice to finally meet you.” Jeonghan braves himself to give an introduction, a bit livelier now. “Mingyu told me you designed everything!”</p><p>Jun flashes his boyfriend a very proud smile while Mingyu was just giddy in his seat the whole time. Minghao, though, looks flustered. “I did. It was something we always wanted to do for a long time but we couldn’t really make this possible in China because of our parents. So Mingyu here gave us some positive news so we packed up and flew.”</p><p>“Come to think of it, it was kinda stupid to leave everything back home and just put our trust on a friend who we’ve met twice or thrice… But we were desperate for a life of our own and it turns out Mingyu isn’t a scammer so here we are.” Jeonghan figures he likes Jun. Minghao just giggles at Jun’s remark while Mingyu pouts at his friends.</p><p>Jeonghan was going to ask more questions, especially about the furniture but a waiter interrupted them, bringing in a menu for only him. He raises his eyebrows at Mingyu, which Jun caught and he just sighs. “Don’t worry about him. He’s got the menu memorized by heart and he also created the recipes for half of the menu so…”</p><p>“You cook?” Jeonghan asks, not even bothering to mask the surprise in his voice.</p><p>“I am a chef by profession, hyung.” Mingyu looks at him like it should be as obvious as the skies are blue but honestly, Jeonghan thought he was also a model like his sister.</p><p>“Oh.” he focuses his attention back on the fancy menu and it seems that there are lots of interesting choices. Everything’s a fusion of Chinese and Korean food and Jeonghan finds himself confused between a Mala Bulgogi slider versus Schezuan Kimchi pasta. “Oh you love spicy food…” Mingyu remarks at some point as he and Minghao explain to him how these foods are edibly possible.. But Jeonghan ended up ordering jjajangmyeon topped with roast pork bites. After getting their drinks, the waiter leaves and Jeonghan, eager to ask about the furniture, turns to Minghao right away. “Sorry, but I’ve been meaning to ask. May I know which furniture maker did you contract to do all these?” </p><p>Minghao looks at Mingyu with a knowing smile. “I think Mingyu can help you contact him.” But Mingyu’s smiling face turns into a frown and Jun audibly sighs. Jeonghan waits for a comment from any of them, but no comment comes, so he doesn’t push.</p><p>“Well, we’ll leave you two to have your catch up. And we hope you’ll enjoy your lunch.” Jun waves at Jeonghan sweetly and so does Minghao. But they glare at Mingyu for a second before turning around to walk towards the back, most probably their office. The waiter comes back with their sparkling water and a single slice of lemon in each of their tall glasses. Mingyu seems to still be distracted with the furniture talk earlier but Jeonghan doesn’t pry. So he finds some other topic to talk about just to break the very awkward silence.</p><p>“So where are you bringing me after lunch?” he asks before taking a sip of his drink.</p><p>This seems to have ignited the extinguished flame of excitement in Mingyu as he grins widely to answer. “I’m bringing you to our house of course!”</p><p>Jeonghan chokes on his water as a hundred and one things flashed through his mind. “Right away? Is Sojung back? Can’t I go home first before meeting your family?” He says these without breathing that he’s panting by the time he’s done. Mingyu just blinks at him, surprised as if he said the most insane thing ever.</p><p>“Hyung… didn’t your mom tell you?”</p><p>“Tell me what??” Jeonghan was snappy now but Mingyu barely winced at his tone.</p><p>“You’ll be staying with us while waiting for Sojung. We have to prepare for the engagement as soon as possible.”</p><p> </p><p>----</p><p> </p><p>Jeonghan doesn’t remember the food he ate. Hell he doesn’t even remember half of what happened after Mingyu told him that he won’t be going home. Instead, he’ll be staying with the Kim’s to prepare for the engagement and wait for Sojung to arrive. He’s already stressed enough about having to leave his perfect life back in the US and this news welcomes him back in Seoul?</p><p>“... and you’ll absolutely love the view from your room. I am so excited!” Mingyu’s giggles distract him from his thoughts. Jeonghan turns to look at him with a blank expression then turns back to looking at the road in front of them. Mingyu seems to have noticed this.</p><p>“I’m sorry. I guess you really don’t know about this arrangement.”</p><p>Jeonghan shakes his head and offers Mingyu a small smile of courtesy. “Sorry… it’s just that… I wanted to see my mom, that’s all.”</p><p>“Oh. I heard they’ll be in Australia for a while? Your dad had some business matters to attend to.” Jeonghan sighs for the seventh time since they sat back in the car and it’s evident that Mingyu grows even more worried about how things will go. “I mean that’s what I heard when they were talking to my parents.”</p><p>The rest of the ride was silent until they reached a small driveway by the side of the road. They were on the outskirts of Seoul and Jeonghan got curious as to why Mingyu was driving him to what looked like a road to nowhere. Though after two minutes of just dirt road and looming trees, the road starts to get broader.</p><p>“Don’t worry, hyung, I really am not kidnapping you.”</p><p>“Did you all move to live in a forest?”</p><p>Mingyu chuckles at his remark but Jeonghan still tries to look ahead, trying to find any sign of a house-like structure. They finally hit a concrete road and this time trees looked tended and trimmed. There were beautiful lamp posts lined up on both sides of the road and Jeonghan thought it would look beautiful when lit up at night. On the far right, Jeonghan sees a very tall wall fenced around the property so he figures they might be nearing the house. But beyond the trees on the left was a vast cultivated land. Jeonghan couldn’t quite see where it ends, but he knows there is enough space to convert the land to an airport or two.</p><p>
  <span>“Those are pears.” Mingyu says as he navigates the winding road.</span>
</p><p>“Oh.” That’s all he managed to respond.</p><p>Three minutes later, Jeonghan rolls the windows down as the road seems to open up a bit more. And he finds that the view seems to have changed again. There were a few people tending to a different-looking orchard. At some point, Jeonghan thinks he spots a familiar face or two looking back at him, but he isn’t sure. Mingyu was driving way too fast for him to make anyone’s facial features. </p><p>“And those are apples, by the way.” Mingyu comments.</p><p>Jeonghan just looks back at him, not understanding how anyone can be this rich and really show it. It’s not like he’s not rich, you know? His father - step-father - owns one of the most successful investment firms in all of South Korea. Now he understands what this merger might mean to Moonsik.</p><p>Finally they reach a massive roundabout that boasts neatly trimmed hedges with a huge statue of Venus at the center of a fountain. And that’s when Jeonghan sees the house. No, not just any house - a mansion. And he never thought he would ever find one as grand as this just in the outskirts of Seoul.</p><p>“And that is home.” Mingyu mutters with a smile.</p>
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